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Distinctives of Biblical Presbyterianism

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Distinctives of Biblical Presbyterianism Distinctives of Biblical Presbyterianism by John M. Otis TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction II. The Inerrancy of Scripture III A Creedal and Confessional Church IV. A Covenantal View of Scripture A. Structural Unity B.Thematic Unity V. An Affirmation of Historic Christian Doctrines A. The Trinity B. The Creation C. The Person of Christ 1. The deity of Christ 2. The humanity of Christ 3. The two natures of Christ D. The work of Christ 1. His offices 2. The atonement of Christ E. The Resurrection and Second Advent VI. The Providence of God VII. Predestination VIII. Agreement with Five Points of Calvinism IX. The Sacraments A. The Lord's Supper B. Christian Baptism 1. The mode of baptism 2. Recipients of baptism X. Church Government XI. Conclusion DISTINCTIVES OF BIBLICAL PRESBYTERIANISM INTRODUCTION The purpose of this work is to set forth the major distinctives of Biblical Presbyterians in order that those who are members of a Presbyterian church might know in a somewhat concise way what their church believes and that curious persons might know what Presbyterians generally believe. A majority of those who are members of a Presbyterian church probably do not know what are the fundamental tenets of their church, nor do they know why they are Presbyterian. By this we mean that most could not give sufficient Biblical or theological reasons why they are Presbyterians as opposed to Baptist,, Methodist, Church of God, etc. There is a great need for members not only to know clearly what they believe but why they believe it. Thomas Witherow perceived the situation quite clearly in his work entitles, The Apostolic Church. In speaking about why people join churches, Witherow said.: "They are guided by feeling rather than by judgement. They do not first ascertain the leading principles of the denomination from its acknowledged standards, and then examine these principles in the light of the Word of God. The bulk of mankind are not intellectual enough to search for principles and weigh them. At least they do not take the trouble, but are influenced in their choice, either by the authority of some great men, or the moral worth of some particular persons, or the piety and eloquence of some local minister. 1 The term 'Biblical Presbyterianism' is used for a specific reason. As unfortunate as it may be, one is forced to use such terminology in light of the current "theological atmosphere" in most mainline denominations. There are those churches which deny much of what will be set forth in this presentation, and yet they refer to themselves as Presbyterians. They are Presbyterian in name only. Upon close scrutiny of their theological beliefs these churches hardly could be called "Christian." Some of these deny the deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth His personal visible return, the inerrancy of Scripture. etc. And the sad thing is that so many do not realize that there is such a polarization of theological beliefs in "Presbyterianism." Those of us that do affirm all the beliefs that will be set forth in this work are often disturbed that we are automatically lumped together with others under the term "Presbyterian." We would wish that these churches would remove the term "Presbyterian" since they deny what is true Biblical Presbyterianism. By "Biblical Presbyterianism" we mean that system of belief which conforms itself to Scripture in all details. And any subsequent use of the term 'Presbyterian' in this presentation will assume that this is what we mean by this term. THE INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE Presbyterians believe that God has revealed Himself in two areas: 1) general revelation, 2) special revelation. By 'general revelation' we mean that God has given information about Himself in His entire creation through the power and focus of nature, in the constitution of the human mind, in the voice of conscience, and in the facts of experience and history (Ps. 19:1,2; Rom. 1:19,20; 2:14,15)2. The main purpose that general revelation serves is to render mankind inexcusable. God does exist and all men are accountable to Him. However, general revelation is insufficient in its ability to convey a reliable knowledge of God. This is because it has been tainted with sin (Rom. 8:19-22). It cannot provide man a knowledge of the way of salvation. Thus, 'special revelation' is needed. This special revelation is now embedded in the Bible. Because of sin's entrance into the world, nature was corrupted becoming obscured to man. Man became spiritually blind unable to understand accurately the physical universe or himself. It was necessary that God should interpret the fact of the universe and provide man with a means to remedy his sinful condition enabling him to have fellowship with his creator and understand the facts of the universe. The Holy Scriptures are central in the thinking and behavior of Presbyterians. The Bible is seen as the inspired Word of God and the infallible rule for faith and practice (II Timothy 3:16,17; 1 Thess. 2:13). How did God inspire the Scriptures? The Holy Spirit acted on the writers in such a way to preserve their character, temperament, gifts and talents, education and culture, vocabulary, and style so that what they wrote was exactly what God wanted to convey (II Peter 1:20,21). By the inerrancy of Scripture, Presbyterians imply that the Bible is without error all of its teaching. This means that the Bible is inspired in its historical archaeology and scientific facts as well as it is in its so called moral or religious teaching. Not only does this inspiration extend to the entirety of the Bible but it extends to the very words employed. This is referred to as "verbal Inspiration." Every single word of Scripture is God breathed. Paul mentioned that his words were Spirit taught words (I Cor. 2:13). And both he and Jesus formulated arguments an the basis of a single word (Matt. 22:43, 45; John 10:35; Gal. 3:16). And Jesus applied it to the very jot and tittle of the Scriptures (Matt 5:18). Presbyterians would hold that the Scripture is the only sure guide for our salvation and growth in holiness (II Tim 3:15). And the Holy Spirit never leads anyone apart from the revealed Word of God (John 16:13; 17:17). All thoughts and all actions must be viewed through the 'spectacles' of Scripture. It is the sure foundation that never changes. The inerrancy of Scripture was listed here as the first major distinctive of Presbyterianism simply because one's view of Scripture determines one's approach to theology. A CREEDAL AND CONFESIONAL DENOMINATION Presbyterianism is without doubt a creedal and confessional church. What do we mean by this? First we should note the slight differences between creeds and confessions. It could be said that creeds such as the three classic creeds Apostles' Nicene and Athanasian - seek to enumerate the unifying essentials of the church universal for all ages. A creed deals with the fundamentals of the church. A confession, on the other hand, is a more detailed treatment of theology. One only has to look at the difference between the Apostles' Creed and the Westminster Confession of Faith to note this point. Presbyterians would affirm that the statements set forth in the ancient creeds and the Westminster Confession of Faith are accurate statements of Scriptural truths (as far as fallible men can discern). We would say, for example, that the Westminster Confession of Faith contains the system of doctrine as taught in the Bible. In saying this, we do not place the Confessional standards on par with the Bible. Creeds and Confessions are not independent assertions of truth serving as supplemental material to the Scriptures. They are wholly subordinate to the Bible. The Westminster Confession emphatically assets the sole sufficiency of Scripture: "The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed. dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received. because it is the Word of God (WCF 1:4). 7he supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture (WCF 1:10).*" Furthermore, the Confession makes mention of the action of church bodies and their relative authority. Such actions are to be heeded only, 'if consonant to the Word of God' (WCF 31:3). Then why have creeds and confessions What purpose do they serve? There are large segments of professing Christianity that consider themselves anticreedal and anticonfessional. They assert that such documents detract from the sole sufficiency of Scripture. Their great motto is: "no creed but the Bible." What are we to make of such statements? First, as already noted, creedal and confessional churches do not deny the sole sufficiency of Scripture but diligently cherish this truth. Second, the statement that 'we have no creed but the Bible' is itself a creed! It is saying in effect, 'my creed is that I have no creed but the Bible.' Practically speaking, this doesn't say much of anything. It is a vague statement. Such churches miss the whole point. The overriding purpose of creeds and confessions is to clearly set forth what one believes about the Bible. Presbyterians have merely said, "if a person wants to know what we believe, simply look at the creeds and confessions that we recognize as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Bible." Anticreedal and anticonfessional churches simply have not recognized or written down the distinctives of their belief in one given document.
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